Upper at Baltusrol Golf Club

I got to experience the "new" Upper Course, following Gil Hanse's modernization effort. I liked it better than the more famous Lower (as most members do). The holes closest to Baltusrol Mountain are really impacted by the sloping terrain, requiring more strategic shot-making to end up close to the hole. Tree removal has opened up sight lines throughout the property.

Using old aerial photographs from the 1936 U.S. Open held on the course, Hanse reconstructed everything - fairways, bunkers, tees, greens and rough. Tee areas (by 50,000 square feet) and greens (by more than 25 percent on average) have expanded considerably. More than 260,000 square feet of bunkers have been rebuilt using the Better Billy Bunker system. A new dual green on the 14th hole was taken out of the plans and then brought back again. The end result is a playable major-championship-caliber course.